The Twenty Virtues Book 1- The Twenty Generals

22-The Choice of a Heart

"Am I going to burn? Why are you so upset? After all, everything I said to you has a biblical basis, doesn't it?" Mordame took a deep breath, holding onto her strength. She was much more composed than that, but the fact that yet another old man wanted to lecture her and try to control her... She couldn't take it anymore. But she breathed and composed herself.

"Indeed. Everything you said is in the Bible. However, there's one thing I still don't understand..." The nun then began to sink into the ground, not in the sense of digging, but her body started to fall into the earth as if she were a specter, passing through the solid ground as if it were nothing. James prepared for any surprise attack from the nun. The general's staff shot out of the ground with all its force toward the man, stretching and advancing at great speed. James created a barrier the moment the attack came, but it was a trivial movement because the staff simply passed through the barrier and struck the man in the stomach, sending him flying backward.

Mordame laughed. She couldn't be found anywhere, but her laughter was unmistakable and present. The staff returned to the ground. The attack hurt, but it was nothing James hadn't felt before. His focus was on something else:

"What is it that you still don't understand?"

"Oh? I caught your interest? I don't understand why you felt the need to tell me all that? Indeed, the interior must be cleaned first, and, of course, the word is given by God and not by man. But none of that has anything to do with me, or are you implying something?"

"I think I made it quite clear what I mean. You're not a sincere Christian." The woman laughed even more. Again, the staff shot out of the ground. James jumped out of the way, but the weapon bent and followed him, stretching without any hindrance and pursuing him like a torpedo. James ran toward the cathedral, trying to avoid staying out in the open, but something grabbed his leg and made him tumble to the ground.

"My good sir, take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground." Mordame's hand was out of the ground, and she began to rise, emerging from the earth as if it were nothing. The staff was still in her hand, even though it was stretched out because it was still following James. The weapon passed through Mordame's stomach and continued with all its force toward the man's face. The weapon struck him right in the eye, and Mordame laughed. The weapon compressed back to its normal state, and Mordame didn't have a single wound on her, as if the staff had passed through nothing. "Do you really think I'm going to let a hypocrite like you enter there? First, purify yourself, for the impure cannot seek Him."

James covered his eye, which was tearing up and swelling from the blow. He murmured from the immense pain but did not ignore what he heard. He didn't care if the woman was hurt or not; he expected supernatural things here, but he couldn't let her say whatever she wanted:

"Stop distorting what's written. When He tells Moses to take off his sandals, it was a reference to respect. God welcomes all who come sincerely seeking help, but that doesn't mean He allows them to speak of His things any way they want. 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened.' A person doesn't need to be pure to seek God, precisely because no one is pure. The one who thinks they are pure and holy, that is the one who will serve others. That's what Jesus said to James and John when they came asking to sit beside Him in heaven. Does that remind you of anyone?"

Mordame attacked again. James tried to cast one of his barriers against her, but it was futile. The attack simply passed through her, once again going through her as if she were nothing more than a hologram. The staff coiled around James like a whip, and Mordame flung him against one of the surrounding buildings.

"You never tire of trying to seem better than me, do you? You talk as if you're perfect, as if you're better than me, and I know you enjoy trying to make me feel bad about myself. You're a hypocrite."